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He said: "This has been going on for four or five years. I have had five planning applications which were refused planning permission and I have appealed against them all and won them all.

"I feel victimised by Cornwall Council because, if the planning denials were genuine, they should not be quashed in the appeal process. This also displays a lack of knowledge from the planning officers.

One of the five appeals against Cornwall Council's decision won by Mark Hitchen

"This is a waste of time and money as appeals cost between £2,500 and £3,000 to make an appeal, not including costs to taxpayers through the council’s actions, and has a knock-on effect with employed tradesman losing work and suppliers losing contracts."

He added: "If this had just been one appeal then I would think nothing of it, maybe even two is OK, but when it gets to four or five you have to wonder what is going on."

Mr Hitchen said that as he had won previous appeals when he submitted recent planning applications he contacted the council's planning department to discuss them to try to avoid them being refused or having to go to appeal.

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He said: "They won't take my calls or emails and I don't know why. All I want to do is make sure that this can be done properly and without having to go through this long and costly process of an appeal.

"I don't have any faith in the planning department at Cornwall Council. It's broken. I have more trust in the planning inspector in Bristol, which is surely not right.

"I know that the council is stretched for resources but it is wasting people's time and money."

Mr Hitchen, who is also a Portreath parish councillor, said he had spoken to others who had the same opinion and felt it was time to speak out.

"I want people to know that it is worth appealing," he said. "For many people it will cost £1,500 to £2,000 just to prepare an application and get it submitted and if they are refused permission they will then just give up as they can't afford to spend any more.

"I am lucky as I do have the money to be able to fight these things, but there are a lot of people who are unable to do that.

"But I would urge them not to give up. Do take it to appeal as I believe you are likely to win."

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In a statement Cornwall Council said: "As a planning authority, we take our responsibilities seriously, and work within national and local guidance to ensure the correct decisions are made. As a result, we have seen 72% of appeals against council decisions dismissed, which is above the national average.

"We are also determined to honour our enforcement responsibilities and will investigate alleged breaches of planning legislation brought to our attention."